News

Immigration Reform: House of Representatives leader believes there is an "agreement"

It is time to address the problem of illegal immigration

EFE Agency

by EFE Agency

January 28 2013

Text Size

Washington. - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, believes lawmakers have already came "an agreement" for immigration reform this year, said on Saturday the newspaper website "The Hill".

The newspaper, specializing in coverage of legislative affairs, for the first time on Saturday released a statement allegedly made Boehner on immigration reform during a meeting on Tuesday with the conservative group Ripon Society.

Boehner’s statements were reported on the eve that President Barack Obama presented his own plan for comprehensive immigration reform, which he will be starting his campaign on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to the newspapers website, Boehner discovered that a group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have already came to "an agreement" for immigration reform after years of stagnation.

"I think there's a bipartisan group of lawmakers who have been meeting for three or four years, and frankly, I think they basically have an agreement," Boehner said, as quoted by "The Hill".

Boehner said in a meeting closed to the press, “I have not seen the agreement or any of its contents, but from my point of view, I think that it’s coming from the correct group of legislators," according to The Hill.

Boehner did not name the group, but said it includes representatives from both sides of this immigration issue.

During a questions and answers session with the audience that attended the meeting, Boehner mentioned that he felt that it is time to address the problem of illegal immigration.

Boehner's office has not returned any calls to confirm his statements to Efe about the private meeting last Tuesday.

The last time the House of Representatives tried to address the issue of immigration reform, it was back in 2006 and it went stale due to the lack of political consensus.

Currently, the U.S. Senate has set the immigration reform as its top priority for the current legislative session, in which a group of eight senators, four Democrats and four Republicans, have maintained a dialogue to achieve an initial agreement for a reform.